Refrigerator having locking device for ice bucket and method for installing locking device for ice bucket

ABSTRACT

There is provided a refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket and a method for installing a locking device for an ice bucket. A refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket, comprising: a main body; a storage space within the main body; an ice space configured to be disposed inside the main body, and partitioned from the storage space, and having a front opening; an ice bucket comprising an ice storage part which stores ice generated within the ice space; and a cover member which is disposed in front of the ice storage part to cover a front of the ice space and configured to be slidably installed in the ice space; and a locking device configured to lock the ice bucket within the ice space to prevent the ice bucket from being drawn out of the ice space by itself.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2015-0085833, filed on Jun. 17, 2015, the disclosureof which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a refrigeratorhaving an ice bucket and a method for installing a device for an icebucket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A refrigerator is a device for low temperature storage of food and maybe configured to provide freezing storage or cold storage according tothe type of food which a user wants to store.

The inside of the refrigerator is continuously supplied by cold air. Thecold air is continuously generated by a heat exchange process with arefrigerant which goes through a process ofcompression-condensation-expansion-evaporation. The cold air supplied tothe inside of the refrigerator is evenly transferred by convection tomaintain the food in the refrigerator at a desired temperature.

Generally, a main body of the refrigerator has a rectangularparallelepiped shape of which the front surface is opened and the insideof the main body may be provided with a refrigerating space and afreezing space. Further, the front surface of the main body may beprovided with a refrigerating space door and a freezing space door forselective accessing of a portion of the refrigerator. A storage space inthe refrigerator may be provided with multiple drawers, shelves,receiving boxes, etc., in which various food may be stored in an optimalcondition.

Traditionally, a top mount type refrigerator has a freezing spacepositioned in an upper portion and has a refrigerating space positionedin a lower portion. Recently, however, for user convenience, a bottomfreezer type refrigerator in which the freezing space is positioned in alower portion has been released. In the case of the bottom freezer typerefrigerator, a frequently used refrigerating space is positioned in anupper portion and a relatively less used freezing space is positioned ina lower position. Thus a user may conveniently use the refrigeratingspace. However, since the freezing space is positioned in the lowerportion, the bottom freezer type refrigerator has a problem in that auser bends over to open the freezing space door and take out ice.

To solve the above problem, recently, a refrigerator has been releasedin which a dispenser for obtaining ice is installed at the refrigeratingspace door positioned in the upper portion of the bottom freezer typerefrigerator. In this case, the refrigerating space door or the insideof the refrigerating space may be provided with an ice machine.

The ice machine may include an ice space which includes an ice tray thatgenerates ice, an ice bucket in which the generated ice is stored, and atransfer assembly transferring the ice stored in the ice bucket to thedispenser.

The ice bucket may be drawn into the ice space or drawn out of the icespace while sliding through the opened front surface of the ice space.Further, the refrigerator may include a locking device which locks theice bucket to prevent the ice bucket from being drawn out of the icespace by itself.

The existing locking device for the ice bucket is provided with aprojection fixed at one side thereof and prevents the ice bucket frombeing drawn out of the ice space by itself by locking or unlocking alocking part. The locking part is locked to the projection, or from theprojection, by a spring and an opening button.

However, the existing locking device as described above is inconvenientbecause operating the opening button requires both hands. Further, theexisting locking device has a complicated structure due to the springand the opening button being separately installed and thus has a highfailure rate, increased cost of materials, etc.

Further, since the existing locking device uses a metal spring, when thelocking device is used for a long period of time, the locking device mayhave reduced elastic force due to spring aging or may not operate due tospring corrosion. As a result, the operating performance of the icebucket may be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, embodiments of the present invention provide arefrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket and a method forinstalling a locking device for an ice bucket capable of increasing userconvenience by allowing a user to draw out the ice bucket with one hand,having reduced material cost, and improved durability through simplifiedstructures.

Further, embodiments of the present invention provide a refrigeratorhaving a locking device for an ice bucket and a method for installing alocking device for an ice bucket capable of increased reliability byproviding an elastic force without using a metal spring to maintain theelastic force during long-term use.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket, therefrigerator including: a main body; a storage space formed inside themain body; an ice space inside the main body and partitioned from thestorage space and having a front opening. The refrigerator furtherincludes an ice bucket including an ice storage part which stores icegenerated in the ice space and a cover member which is disposed in frontof the ice storage part to cover the front of the ice space and slidablyinstalled in the ice space to open and close the ice space. Therefrigerator further includes a locking device configured to lock theice bucket to the ice space to prevent the ice bucket from being drawnout of the ice space by itself. The locking device includes: aprojection configured to protrude from an inner side of the ice spacetoward the ice bucket; an elastic module part in at least one of anupper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket and including anelastic piece which has one end fixed to the ice bucket and another endin a free state and configured to provide an elastic force; a lockingflap configured to contact the elastic module part to be applied withthe elastic force from the elastic piece and having a projecting partwhich is locked to the projection by the elastic force; and a cover partconfigured to cover the locking flap and having an opening part throughwhich the projecting part is exposed.

The elastic module part may be integrally formed in the ice bucket.

The elastic piece may include: a wave part configured to be bent in awave shape with a predetermined length from a point fixed to the icebucket toward the free end to increase the elastic force; and a planepart configured to be flatly formed from the wave part to the free endto push a portion of the projecting part of the locking flap toward theprojection.

The other side of the projecting part may be integrally disposed with ahinge part so that the locking flap rotates by the elastic force.

The cover part may be separably coupled with the elastic module part.

The locking device may be installed at either of the upper portion andthe lower portion of the ice bucket and the other portion of the icebucket may be disposed with a first locking hook extending from the icespace and a second locking hook, extending from the ice bucket, to belocked to the first locking hook.

The locking device may be installed at both of the upper portion and thelower portion of the ice bucket.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a method for installing a locking device for an ice bucket, themethod including: forming an elastic module part provided with anelastic piece of which one end is fixed and another end is in a freestate in at least one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the icebucket disposed in a refrigerator; molding a locking flap including aprojecting part projecting on a side thereof; molding a cover part whichcovers the locking flap and is disposed with an opening part throughwhich the projecting part is exposed; coupling the cover part with theelastic module part by disposing the locking flap between the cover partand the elastic module part wherein a free end side of the elastic piececontacts a surface of the projecting part and the projecting part isinserted into the opening part; and installing a projection protrudingfrom an inner side of an ice space of the refrigerator toward the icebucket so that the projecting part is locked.

The elastic piece may be molded to have a wave part bent in a wave shapewith a predetermined length from a point fixed to the ice bucket towarda free end to increase the elastic force and a plane part configured tobe flatly formed from the wave part to the free end to push a point ofthe projecting part of the locking flap toward the projection.

The locking flap may be molded to rotate in response to the elasticforce so that a side of the projecting part is integrally formed with ahinge part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description of embodiments given in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary refrigerator according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an ice bucket that is drawnout from an ice space of the refrigerator illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view illustrating an exemplary locking device foran ice bucket according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a locking state ofthe locking device for the ice bucket according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary locking device of the icebucket, according to an embodiment of the present invention, installedat one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a locking device of the ice bucket,according to an embodiment of the present invention, installed at boththe upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, constructions and actions according to embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The following description is one of aspects ofthe present invention which may be claimed as a patent and may form aportion of the detailed technologies of the present invention.

However, in describing the embodiments of the present invention, adetailed description of well-known constructions or functions will beomitted to make the present invention clear.

The present invention may be variously changed and include variousembodiments, so that specific embodiments are illustrated in thedrawings and will be described in detail below. However, it is to beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the specificexemplary embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, andsubstitutions included in the spirit and the scope of the presentinvention.

Terms including an ordinal number such as ‘first’, ‘second’, etc., canbe used to describe various components, but the components are not to beconstrued as being limited to the terms. The terms are only used todistinguish one component from another component.

Terms used in the present application are used only in order to describespecific embodiments rather than limiting the present invention.Singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that theterms “comprises” or “have” used in this application, specify thepresence of stated features, numerals, steps, operations, components,parts, or a combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, numerals, steps, operations,components, parts, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary refrigerator according to anembodiment of the present invention and FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectionalview of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 having a locking device 100for an ice bucket 40 according to an embodiment of the present inventionmay include a main body 10, a storage space 20, an ice space 30, the icebucket 40, and the locking device 100.

The description that an embodiment of the present invention includes thecomponents listed above does not mean that the present invention doesnot include only the above components but means that the presentinvention can include these components and that the present inventionmay include other components (for example, technologies widely knownwith respect to refrigerators). However, the detailed description ofknown technologies will be omitted if it is deemed that such descriptionwould make the description of the present invention unnecessarily vague.

The main body 10 forms the appearance and supporting structure of therefrigerator 1 and may provide a space in which the components listedabove and other components used in the operation of the refrigerator 1may be formed or installed therein.

The storage space 20 is formed inside the main body 10 and has a frontsurface opening. The storage space 20 may be partitioned into arefrigerating space and a freezing space by a partition wall.

The front surface of the storage space 20 may be opened and closed by apair of doors 21 which rotate and are hinge-coupled with the main body10. The door 21 may be provided with a dispenser 50 which may extractice generated in the ice space 30 from the outside without opening thedoor 21.

The dispenser 50 may include an extraction space 51 which may allow iceto be dispensed, a lever 52 which may select whether to extract ice, anda chute 53 which guides ice discharged through an ice discharge port 40a of the ice bucket 40 to the extraction space 51.

Further, the ice space 30 may be disposed inside the main body 10 andpartitioned from the storage space 20. The ice space 30 may be formed tohave a front opening. The ice space 30 may be disposed at one side ofthe storage space 20 and may be partitioned from the storage space 20 bya wall of the ice space.

The ice space 30 may be provided with an ice assembly to generate ice,the ice assembly may be of any well-known design and therefore adetailed description thereof will be omitted.

Further, the ice bucket 40 may be slidably installed in the ice space 30to open and close the ice space 30. The ice bucket 40 may include an icestorage part 41 which stores ice generated in the ice space 30 and acover member 42 which is disposed in front of the ice storage part 41 tocover the front of the ice space 30.

Further, the locking device 100 may lock the ice bucket 40 to the icespace 30 to prevent the ice bucket 40 from being drawn out of the icespace 30 by itself. When the ice bucket 40 is locked to the ice space 30by the locking device 100, the ice bucket 40 may not be drawn out fromthe ice space 30 by itself as long as a user does not apply an externalforce and may be kept in a locking state.

Hereinafter, the locking device 100 will be described in detail withreference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an ice bucket that is drawnout from the ice space of the refrigerator illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 4is an exploded view illustrating the locking device for the ice bucketaccording to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is aside cross-sectional view illustrating the locking state of the lockingdevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the locking device 100 may include aprojection 110 formed inside the ice space 30, an elastic module part120 formed in the ice bucket 40, a locking flap 130, and a cover part140.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the projection 110 may project from an innerwall of the ice space 30 toward the ice bucket 40.

In one embodiment, when the projection 110 is installed on a ceiling 30a of the ice space 30, the projection 110 may be disposed to projectdownward from a position contacting the cover member 42 of the icebucket 40. Further, when the projection 110 is installed on a floor ofthe ice space 30, the projection 110 may be disposed to project upwardfrom a position contacting the cover member 42 of the ice bucket 40 orthe ice storage part 41.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the elastic module part 120 may be formed inat least one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the icebucket 40 and the elastic providing part 120 may be integrally formed inthe ice bucket 40.

The elastic module part 120 may be formed below a surface of the icebucket 40 with a predetermined depth so that the locking flap 130 andthe cover part 140 may be installed below the surface. The elasticmodule part 120 may include the elastic piece 121 which provides anelastic force.

One end of the elastic piece 121 is fixed to the ice bucket 40 and theother end is free from (e.g., not connected to) the ice bucket 40 andthus may be formed in a free state.

In this case, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the elastic piece 121 mayinclude a wave part 121 a and a plane part 121 b.

The wave part 121 a has a structure to increase the elastic force of theelastic piece 121 and the wave part 121 a may be bent in a wave shapewith a predetermined length from one point fixed to the ice bucket 40with the other point toward the free end. The wave part 121 a has astructure in which protrusions and depressions are repeated, and as aresult, its ability to provide elastic force may be increased and isless likely to be deformed or destroyed even though substantial force isapplied to the wave part 121 a. Further, the plane part 121 b is flatlyformed from the wave part 121 a toward the free end and thus may contactthe locking flap 130 to provide an elastic force.

Further, the locking flap 130 is disposed to contact the elastic modulepart 120 so that it receives the elastic force from the elastic piece121. The locking flap 130 may generally be formed with a flat side andanother side thereof may be disposed with a projecting part 131projecting to a predetermined height on one side thereof to be locked tothe projection 110 by the elastic force from the elastic piece 121.

An end portion opposite the projecting part 131 of the locking flap 130may be integrally formed with a hinge part 132 so that the projectingpart 131 is locked to the projection 110 while the locking flap 130rotates by the elastic force applied by the elastic piece 121.

Therefore, when the elastic force is exerted from the elastic piece 121(for example, the plane part 121 b of the elastic piece 121), theprojecting part 131 is locked into the projection 110 while moving inthe same direction as the elastic force, with the locking flap 130rotating based on the hinge part 132. Here, the hinge part 132 of thelocking flap 130 may be inserted into one side of the elastic modulepart 120.

Further, the cover part 150 covers the locking flap 130 and may bedisposed with an opening part 141 through which the projecting part 131extends. The projecting part 131 penetrates through the cover part 140through the opening part 141 to be locked to the projection 110. Thecover part 140 may be separably coupled with the elastic module part 120and a portion of the cover part 140 may cover a portion of the lockingflap 130 and a portion of the inside of the elastic module part 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the locking device 100 is installed at one ofthe upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40. One of theupper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40 may include afirst locking hook 11 extending from the ice space 30. A second lockinghook 12 may extend from the ice bucket 40 to be locked to the firstlocking hook 11.

FIG. 6 illustrates that the upper portion of the ice bucket 40 isdisposed with the locking device 100 and the lower portion of the icebucket 40, at which the locking device 100 is not installed, may bedisposed with the first locking hook 11 and the second locking hook 12to lock between the ice space 30 and the ice bucket 40. In anotherembodiment, the lower portion of the ice bucket 40 is disposed with thelocking device 100 and the upper portion of the ice bucket 40 may beprovided with the first locking hook 11 and the second locking hook 12to lock between the ice space 30 and the ice bucket 40.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the locking device 100 may also beinstalled both at the upper portion and the lower portion of the icebucket 40.

Hereinafter, a method for installing a locking device 100 for an icebucket 40 according to another embodiment of the present invention willbe described and a detailed description thereof will cite the foregoingdescription.

According to the method for installing a locking device 100 for an icebucket 40, the elastic module part 120 configured to provide the elasticforce may be formed in at least any one of the upper portion and thelower portion of the ice bucket 40 which is disposed in therefrigerator.

The elastic module part 120 may include the elastic piece 121 and theelastic piece 121 may be integrally molded in the ice bucket 40 with oneend fixed to the ice bucket 140 and the other end in a free state.

The elastic piece 121 may be molded to have a wave part 121 a bent in awave shape, with a predetermined length from a point fixed to the icebucket 40 toward the free end to increase the elastic force, and theplane part 121 b flatly formed from the wave part 121 a toward the freeend.

Further, the locking flap 130 may be provided separately from theelastic module part 120. The locking flap 130 may be injection-molded sothat the projecting part 131 projects on one side of the locking flap130. The locking flap 130 may be molded to rotate due to the elasticforce and the other end opposite the projecting part 131 is integrallyformed with the hinge part 132.

Further, the separate cover part 140 may be disposed thereon. The coverpart 140 covers a portion of the locking flap 130 and may be molded tohave the opening part 141 through which the projecting part 131protrudes.

As such, the elastic providing part 120 is formed in the ice bucket 40(e.g., separately), after the locking flap 130 and the cover part 140are molded, the free end of the elastic piece 121 contacts a surface ofthe projecting part 131, and the locking flap 130 is disposed betweenthe cover part 140 and the elastic module part 120 so that theprojecting part 131 is inserted into the opening part 141. As a result,the cover part 140 may be disposed in the elastic module part 120.Further, the projection 110 is installed at the inner side of the icespace 30 of the refrigerator so that the projecting part 131 is lockedwith the projection 110. Therefore, when the projection 110 projectstoward the ice bucket 40, the installation of the locking device 100 iscomplete.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the user mayadvantageously draw out the ice bucket with one hand to increase theconvenience of the ice bucket and the structure may be simplified tosave material cost and improve durability.

Further, the elastic force may be provided without using the spring ofthe metal material and therefore the same elastic force is maintainedeven after long-term use, thereby increasing the reliability ofproducts.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described withrespect to the preferred embodiments, the scope of the present inventionis not limited to the specific embodiments. It will be understood that aperson having ordinary skill in the art to which the present inventionpertains may substitute and change components without any limitation andthese substitutions and changes also belong to the scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator having a locking device for an icebucket, the refrigerator comprising: a main body; a storage space withinthe main body; an ice space disposed inside the main body, andpartitioned from the storage space, and having a front opening; an icebucket comprising: an ice storage part for storing ice generated withinthe ice space; and a cover member which is disposed in front of the icestorage part to cover a front of the ice space and configured to beslidably installed in the ice space; and a locking device configured tolock the ice bucket within the ice space to prevent the ice bucket frombeing drawn out of the ice space by itself, wherein the locking devicecomprises: a projection configured to protrude from an inner side of theice space toward the ice bucket; an elastic module part in at least anyone of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket andcomprising an elastic piece which has one end fixed to the ice bucketand the other end in a free state configured to provide an elasticforce; a locking flap coupled to the elastic module part, and configuredto receive the elastic force from the elastic piece, and comprising aprojecting part which is locked to the projection by the elastic force;and a cover part configured to cover a portion of the locking flap andcomprising an opening part through which the projecting part extends. 2.The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the elastic module part isintegrally formed in the ice bucket.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 1,wherein the elastic piece comprises: a wave part bent in a substantiallywave shape with a predetermined length to produce the elastic force; anda plane part flatly formed and coupled to the wave part toward the freeend and configured to push a portion of the projecting part of thelocking flap toward the projection.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 1,wherein the projecting part is coupled with a hinge part allowing thelocking flap to rotate under the elastic force.
 5. The refrigerator ofclaim 1, wherein the cover part is separably coupled with the elasticmodule part.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the locking deviceis disposed at one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the icebucket and wherein an opposing side of the ice bucket comprises a firstlocking hook extending from the ice space and comprising: a secondlocking hook extending from the ice bucket lock to the first lockinghook.
 7. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein a first locking device isdisposed in the upper portion of the ice bucket and a second lockingdevice is disposed at the lower portion of the ice bucket.
 8. A methodfor installing a locking device for an ice bucket, the methodcomprising: forming an elastic module part comprising an elastic piecewherein one end is fixed and the other end is in a free state, whereinthe elastic module part is formed in at least one of an upper portionand a lower portion of the ice bucket disposed in the refrigerator;molding a locking flap comprising a projecting part projecting from oneside of the locking flap; molding a cover part which covers a portion ofthe locking flap and comprises an opening through which the projectingpart extends; coupling the cover part with the elastic module part bydisposing the locking flap between the cover part and the elastic modulepart, wherein a free end side of the elastic piece contacts a surface ofthe projecting part and the projecting part is inserted into theopening; and installing a projection protruding from an inner side of anice space of the refrigerator toward the ice bucket to lock theprojecting part thereto.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the elasticpiece is molded to have a wave part bent in a substantially wave shapewith a predetermined length, from a point fixed to the ice bucket towardthe free end, to produce the elastic force and a plane part flatlyformed and coupled to the wave part toward the free end and configuredto push a portion of the projecting part of the locking flap toward theprojection.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the locking flap ismolded to rotate due to the elastic force, wherein an end opposite theprojecting part is integrally formed with a hinge part.
 11. An apparatuscomprising: an ice bucket comprising an ice storage portion configuredto store ice and configured to be slidably installed in a refrigerator;and a locking device configured to lock the ice bucket, wherein thelocking device comprises: a projection configured to protrude from aninner side of the refrigerator toward the ice bucket; a receivingportion in at least any one of an upper portion and a lower portion ofthe ice bucket; an elastic module portion disposed in a portion of theice bucket wherein the elastic module portion comprises an elastic piececonfigured to provide an elastic force; a locking flap coupled to theelastic module portion, and configured to be applied with the elasticforce from the elastic piece, and comprising a projecting part which islocked to the projection by the elastic force; and a cover partcomprising an opening through which the projecting part extends.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the elastic module part is integrallyformed in the ice bucket.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theelastic piece comprises: a wave part having a wave shape with a firstend fixed to the ice bucket and a second end that is a free end, andconfigured to produce the elastic force; and a plane part flatly formedfrom the wave part toward the free end and configured to apply a forceto a portion of the projecting part of the locking flap toward theprojection.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the projecting partis coupled with a hinge allowing the locking flap to rotate in responseto the elastic force.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the coverpart is separably coupled with the elastic module portion.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the locking device is disposed at one ofthe upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket and wherein anopposing side of the ice bucket comprises a first locking hook extendingfrom the refrigerator and comprising: a second locking hook extendingfrom the ice bucket configured to be locked to the first locking hook.17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a first locking device isdisposed in the upper portion of the ice bucket and a second lockingdevice is disposed at the lower portion of the ice bucket.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 11, further comprising another locking device.